Bob Dylan’s Top Five Awards Speeches

Jack Nicholson presented Dylan with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1991 Grammy Awards show. After a long introduction and video clips of Dylan’s greatest hits, Dylan played an almost unrecogniseable rock version of Masters Of War. Vocally it was slurred, and poor. It couldn’t have been more different to the acoustic folk ballads he became known for in the 1960s But the political statement was timely, considering that the U.S. was mired deep in the Gulf War.

Dylan finished the song, staggered awkwardly on stage, adjusting his hat and clearly drunk. He was stepping backwards and forwards, and looked confused and he listened to Nicholson. Taking to the microphone, he looked awkwardly at the award, and said: ‘Thank you… Well, erm… alright… yeah. Well my daddy he didn’t leave me touch, you know, he was a very simple man, and, er, he didn’t leave me a lot but what he told me was this, he did say ”Son,” he said, er… he said so many things… (laughter). He said ”You know it’s possible to become so defiled in this world that your own mother and father will abandon you, and if that happens, God will always believe in your own ability to mend your own ways.” Thank you’.

And with that Bob turned and shuffled off the stage.

1998 Grammy Awards Album Of The Year

Dylan’s record Time Out Of Mind won album of the year at the Grammy Awards in 1998. The performance of Love Sick at the same show made headline’s when a bizarre stage crasher named Michael Portnoy with ‘soy bomb’ scrawled across his chest ran on set and began girating next to Bob. But Dylan’s acceptance speech was still a good one.

He thanked a string of people, before changing tack. ‘I just wanted to say that one time when I was about 16 or 17 years old I went to see Buddy Holly play at Duluth National Guard Armoury,’ Dylan said lowering his voice. ‘I was three feet away from him and he looked at me, and I just had some kind of feeling that he was, I don’t know how or why, but I know he was sith us all the time we were making this record in some kind of way.’ After a silence, perhaps in which Dylan was expecting an appluase, he then goes in a different direction. ‘In the words of the immortal Robert Johnosn ”The stuff I got will bust your brains out” and I would try to get that across.’ Dylan then hands over to the album’s producer to continue.

Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Induction 1988

Dylan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1988. After appearing on stage in a long black jacket, he thanks people, say’s hello to Mohammed Ali (Dylan has always been a massive fan of boxing) and leaves the audience with a few short words of wisdom. ‘Peace, love and harmony is greatly important indeed, but so is forgiveness and you gotta have that, too.’

2001 Golden Globe Award

Dylan’s ‘songs Things Have Changed won the Academy Award, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. His acceptance speech at the ceremony was pretty brief! He thanked a few people and his family and left the stage.

Dylan received the Polar Music Prize in 2000 from the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf. There was a lengthy speech from a woman, and then Dylan gets the award from the King, along with a big bunch of flowers. Dylan doesn’t actually say anything, but the looks on his face say a lot…